Tag: missle

The Pentagon is planning on shooting down one of our own satellites. Does this make anybody else nervous? According to Reuters, “President George W. Bush opted for a plan to have the Navy shoot the 5,000-pound minivan-sized satellite with a modified tactical missile, after security advisers suggested its reentry could lead to a loss of life.”

OK, all of that is fine and well, but what makes me nervous is the next statement. Note, the emphasis on a certain word is mine. “Military officials hope to strike the satellite just before it reaches the atmosphere and drive it into ocean waters.” That doesn’t sounds like the voice of confidence to me.

They “hope” to strike the satellite. Well what happens if they miss? Sure they can have a second shot, but where is the first shot going? Does it just continue to journey on into outer space to finally hit some poor unsuspecting planet or inter-space traveler? Isn’t that like shooting your guns in the air without reasoning out where the bullets will fall? And if it does hit someone else out there, might that not piss them off? Are we now declaring war on unknown species out in the galaxy?

OK, so it doesn’t go to outer space, it falls back down. Great, now we have both a dying satellite and a rogue missile to deal with. Sounds just great. How much you want to make a bet that the wayward missile is set to fall back to earth somewhere harmless – like the Democratic convention or a Hillary Clinton rally? OK, maybe not. I really am not a conspiracy theory guy. It will probably just hit a school or nursery. Or Darfur. Bush would love that to be off of his doorstep.

Where is Will Smith or Bruce Willis when you need them? I bet one of those guys could go up in a fighter jet and shoot this thing down. This has all the makings of next seasons best reality show. Kind of a combination of the classic Battleship game and ballistic lawn darts.